Holder for individual drinking cups



Dec. 15 1925 s. BERGMANEi' AL HOLDER FOR INDIVIDUAL DRINKING CUPS Filed Jan. 18 1921 i i 1U mW qm 3 5 .4 5 4 Patented Dec. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES iPATENT oFFICE.

SIMON BERGMAN, OF YORK, N. Y., AND JAMES D. REIFSNYDER, OF WEEHAWVKEN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO TULIP CUP CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK,.N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

HOLDER FOR INDIVIDUAL DRINKING-CUPS.

Application led. January 18, 1921. Serial No; 438,104.

To all whom it may concer/L.'

Be it known that we, SIMON BERGMAN and JAMES D. REIFSNYDER, both citizens of the United- States, and residents, respectively, of New York, county and State of New York, and Weehawken, countyofHudson, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain' new and useful Improvements 1n Holders for Individual Drinking Cups, of which the following 'is a specification.

The invention 'relates to holders for individual drinking cups .and more particularlyv to devices of this character adapted to rctain a series of nested paper cups and to permit the withdrawall of thesame one at a time.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide a device of the general Acharacter referred to which will be simple,.durable and efficient, and inexpensive to manufacture and install; and to produce a cup 'holding and dispensing device which is particularly adapted to be used in the guest rooms of hotels or the like, so arranged as to pren sent a few sanitary drinking cups for lthe use of a temporary occupant of the room.

In the preferred embodiment of the device a cup holder is mounted in a 0fenerally horizontal position against a wall with a portion of the outermost cup of a nested series extending outwardly therefrom in position conveniently to be grasped and'withdrawn by the occupant of the room.` With such an arrangement thenested-series of cups, or at least the rim ends of some of the cups must be inserted into the holder through the same opening from which they are Withdrawn one at a time.

In the use of the invention in a guest room of a hotel a set of eight or nine cups for example would be insertedby an attendant every morning into the holder, the supply to be renewed every day or at suitable iutervals.

It will be noted that the/arrangement of the device referred to,l which extends out .from a wall or similar surface entails vari-v ous features, namely, that the nested cups must be inserted through the same opening by which they are separately withdrawn,

that they -must be retained in position to be 'readily withdrawn, singly, by the user, that the holder should be such -that the innermost 'cup shall project suinciently out therefrom to be grasped and pulled out, and that suitable retaining means must be employed such that as each cup is Withdrawn for use the remainingcups of the series will be retained in proper position in the holder.

The invention, consist-s in the novel features of arrangement and construction of ries of cups being shown as contained there in. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the device shown in Fig. 1 with the set of cups removed therefrom. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken through another form of device embodying the invention. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of another form of device embodying the invention, the nested cups held thereby being partly shown in cross section, and Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken through anotherinodiied form of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, we have illustrated in Flgs. 1 and 2 a. form of holder embodying a base member 1 from which extends at right angles thereto a cylindrical flange 2. The base member and the flange may be and preferably are formed integral and maybe formed of any desired -material such asmetal or porcelain for example.I The base member 1 may be secured to a supporting surface such as the vertical Wall 3 in any desired manner. member 1 is secured to the wall by means of screws 4, the heads of which may be contained Within suitable recesses 5 in the ase .member when the screws have been tight-k `cups. The retaining means may comprise a series of strips 6 of resilient c"feed rub- As illustrated the `base ber or the like which are secured in position vpreferably .at four equidistant points as shown in Fig. 2.

A series of nested cups 8 is illustrated as held within the holder in Fig. 1. These' cups may be the usual tapered paper cups which are adapted to be inserted one within another. The form of cup illustrated is provided with a beaded rim 9 vat its open end. A set comprising a suitable number of cups, eightcupsfo-r example, is made up and the rim ends of the cups, or of most of them, are pushed through the delivery opening 10 of the holder'into the position shown in Fig. 1.

When so positioned the rim -portions 9 ofthe nested'cups will be closely adjacent to each other and will all,or most of them, be contained-within the holder, the retaining strips 6 frictionally engaging the peripheral surfaces of the beads 9 and the beaded rim of the innermost cup, indicated Cal at 9, being pressed against thel base member 1. It will be V,noted that in this form of the invention the base member 1 serves as an abutment against which the open end of theinnermo'st cup engages to aid in properly alining the cups in'horizontal position and to aid in preventing the entrancey of dust into the interior of thevnested cups.

`The diameter of the circle touching the inner surfaces of the'strip 6 is slightly less i than` the normal outer diameter of the beaded rims 9 of the cups 8, Accordingly when the nested cups are vpushed into pof sition within theholder the strips' or the beaded rims 9 orboth must yield somewhat.

In' actual practice with the usual paper cups both the' strips. 6 and the beaded rims 9 will yield sufficiently4 to -permitjthe rims 9 to moveinto position. Preferably the outer yends ofthe stri s' 6 are bevelled'orrounded slightly as iss own at 11, the outer edge of flange preferably; being rounded orbevelled as shown at 12 to aid the insertion of the l When the cups are'so positioned Iin the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2, all of the beaded rims 9 of the series of cupswithin the holder will be frictionally engaged by lthe resilient retaining'means 6. The greater part of the body portion of the outermost cup 8 extends horizontally ber 1a.

2 at the deliveryopening 10 also.

beyond the delivery opening of the holder so that it may conveniently be grasped by the hand and withdrawn by a simply horizontal pull. Thefrictional contact of strips `6 with the beaded rims 9' of the remaining oups will be sufficient to retain the same in position when the outermost cup .is withdrawn, so that each cup may be withdrawn in turn as occasion arises.

` It will be noted that the retaining means should engage the" rim portions thereof to retain the cups' in proper position regardless of the unsupported weight of the body portions of the cups which extend outwardly from the delivery opening of the holder. In the form of device illustrated in Fig. 3 the base portion 1a of the holder has an integral cylindrical flange 2a extending outwardly therefrom, the base 1a being adapted to be secured to a vertical surface. The retaining means for the cups in this form of the invention take the form of one or more spring members. Asshown in the drawing a spring member is used having a vertical portion 13' which is secured to the base .mem-

, The uertical strip 13 is bent at right angles outwardly at its upper and lower ends as shown at 14 and-15, flanges 14. and 15 preferably having their outer end portions bentfslightly inwardlyl and then out- -1 ywardly of theopening as is indicated at 16.

fthe strips' than two may, of course, be used if desired, suitably spaced.

When the nested cups 8a are pushed into position within the holder, in this form of the invention,

the inwardly extending beads 16 `of the -spring' strips will,J of' course, be pushed radially outwardly to permit the rim port-ions 9a of theV cupsy to pass the same, after which the beads 16 of the spring strips will 'move' vvinwardly again into position.

When the cups are so inserted the beaded* rims 9a ofthe-same will be frictionally engaged by the inner surfaces of the spring strips such as 14 and 15 in the same manner that the rims 9 of the cups 8 are resiliently engaged by lthe strips 6 in the form of my inventionas first described.

Anotherv form `of lthe invention is illustrated in Fig. 4 in which the base memberl 1b is secured to the wall 3 in the same manner as previously described. In this form of invention a plurality of posts 18, 18 extend outwardly Vfrom the base. member 1*. As shown a pair of posts at diametrically opposite points may be employed or of course a. greater number of posts may be used. These posts are so positioned as to enter within the open ends of the nested cups 8b when the same are pressed over the posts toward the base member 1b.

Spring members 19, 19 are secured to posts 18 to extend outwardly from the base member on the outer sides of the posts radially of the opening. These members are preferably formed of resilient metal and preferably have their outer ends beaded or bent inwardly, that is, toward the posts 18 as is indicated at 20. When the nested cups8b are pushed over the posts 18 the inwardly bent portions 20 of the spring strips will be pressed outwardly until the beaded rim portions of the cups have passed by the same. The spring strips 19 are provided with portions Which frictionally engage againstl the peripheral surfaces of some of the rim portions 9b of the cups. Preferably the spring strips are provided with straight portions 19b which press against the peripheral surfaces y0f all of the rims 9b of the cups.

r Whether the spring strips thus engage the beaded rims of all of the cups of the series or not it is desirable that the spring strips should thus .engage the rim portionsr of a plurality of the cups sufficiently spaced apart from each other so that the. nested cups will -be held in horizontal alignment. With this form of device the nested cups will be pushed inwardly into the delivery opening of the holder and toward the base 1, until `the decreasing diameter of the cups prevents further entrance of the posts 18 within the same. In this form of the invention the cups will be effectively prevented from being tilted from the horizontal position.

Another form of device included within the invention is shown in Fig. 5 in which the base member 1c has a hollow1 mandrel 21 secured to the same to extend outwardly at right angles thereto. This mandrel may take the form of the nested cups, may be Yformed of thin metal or othersuitable material and maybe secured to the base 1c in any suitable manner as by means .of the bolt indicated at 22. The nested .cups 8 are pushed into pcsition over the mandrel 21 and will fit thereon sufficiently snugly to be held in proper A alignment thereby. Spring strips 23 are secured to the base member 1c to extend outwardly over the beaded rims 9 of the cups. The strips 23 may be provided with curved portions 24 at their outer ends, these portions being curved inwardly in the radial direction so as to frictionally engage the beaded rim of jthe outermost cup. In this 'form of device it will not be necessary toprovide engagement between spring strips 23 andany of the .beaded rims 9 of the cups except the rim .of the outermost cupy of the series. Since the alignment of the cups will be provided by their engagement with mandrel 21,

the spring strips 23 being only provided to frictionally hold the outermost cup on the mandrel until it is withdrawn. With this construction an annular strip 25 of felt or the like may be secured against the outer face ofthe base member 1c in a position to be engaged by the rim portion-of the innermost cup of the series so as more effectively to prevent the entrance of dust within'the nested cups in pase no enclosing casing o1 circumferential flange is used.

While we have described the invention with particularity in connection with the various embodiments thereof illustrated herein, it will be obvious to those skilled in theart, after understanding the invention. that various changes and modifications may be made in 'the arrangement and construction of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and we aim in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications.

It will be noted that horizontal, in the specification and claims, is to be understood as indicating a generally horizontal direction.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim as. new and desire to secure 'by Letters Patent, is

1. In a holder for drinking cups, the combination of a base member adapted to be secured to a vertical surface, and fixedly secured retaining means projecting out therefrom and having a delivery opening facing out therefrom, said means comprising resilient rubber and being adapted and constructed to permit the insertion through said opening of the open ends of a plurality of nested cups and the withdrawal of the cups from said opening one at a time, and to frictionally support and retain the nested cups -substantially fixedly in horizontal position at all times as they project out from the vertical surface, said retalnlng means being comparatively short, so that the greater portion of the length of the nested cups extends unsupported.

2. In a holder for drinkingcups, the combina-tion of a base member adapted to be secured to a vertical surface, and fixedly secured retaining means extending horlzontally therefrom and having a delivery open-v ing, said means being adapted and constructed to permit the insertion through said opening of the open ends of a plurality of nested cups and the withdrawal'of the cups from said opening pne at a, time, and to friction'ally engage a plurality'of the cups of a nested series, adjacent the rims thereof, in suchl manner as to support the series firmly in horizontal positionv and to retain the remaining cups substantiallyunmoved in po sition as the cups are withdrawn one at a time, said retaining means being mounted and constructed to exert resilient pressure upon the cups held therein, in a direction transverse to the axis of said cups.

3. In a holder for drinking cups, the combination of a base member adapted to be secured to a vertical surface, a cylindrical flange extending out therefrom and having a delivery opening at its outer end, and fixedly secured retaining means, yieldable transversely to the axis of said flange, mounted Within said flange and extending lengthwise thereof and adapted to permit the insertion Within said flange of the open ends of a number of nested cups, and to frictionally engage a plurality of rims of said c upsV inserted therein, in such manner as to support the series of cups in horizontal position, in axial alignment with the holder, as they project out therefrom.

4. In a holder for drinking cups, the combination of a base member adapted to be secured to a vertical surface, and fixedly secured retaining means extending horizontally therefrom, having a delivery opening at the outer end thereof and adapted to permit the insertion through said opening of the adjacent rim portions of a plurality of nested cups and the Withdrawal ofthe cups through said opening one at a time, and to frictionally support and retain the nested cups in horizontal position, at all times, and to support the remaining. cups substantially unmoved in position when one is being Withdrawn, said retaining means being mounted and constructed to exertresilient pressure upon the cups held therein in a direction transverse to the axis of the cups.

5. In a holderfor drinking cups, the combination of a casing comprising a base adapted to be secured to a vertical surface and a short cylindrical flange extending horizontally out therefrom and resilient retaining means within said flange, adapted to frictionally engage the rims of some of the cups of a nested series inserted therein in such manner as to maintain the series in axial alignment with said casing, said flange and means being adapted to permit the insertion through the open end thereof of the rim ends of the nested cups, and being of such length that a considerable Portion of the innermost cup extends from the outer end thereof When the cup is in its innermost position in the holder.

6. In a holder for drinking cups, the combination of a base member adapted to be secured to a vertical surface and adapted to serve as an abutment against which the inner end of the innermost cup of a nested series may engage, and frictional retaining means comprising resilient rubber and extending at rightangles a distance less CUP insertion through the open end thereof of the rim ends ofthe nested cups, and being arranged to engage the rims of a plurality of the cups of the series in such manner as to maintain the series `in axial alignment with said retaining means.

7. In a holder for drinking cups,

than the length of a single the combination of a base member adapted to be secured to a vertical surface, and retaining means projecting out therefrom and having a delivery opening facing out therefrom, said mea-ns beingv adapted and constructed to permit the insertion through said opening of the open ends of a plurality of nested cups and the withdrawal of the cups from said opening one at a time, and to frictionally support and retain the nested cups as they project out from the vertical surface, in horizontal position, the length of from said base member forl said means being adapted to permit the.

that portion of the holder adapted to have the cups inserted therein bein sufficiently less than the length of a sing e cup, such that the innermost cup Will be held firmly in position Where it can be grasped and Withdrawn.

In testimony whereof, We have signed our names to this specification.

siMoN BERGMAN'. JAMES n. REIFSNYDER. 

